


Off The Grid

by sahyoschild



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Best Friends to Lovers, F/F, Mostly Fluff, some soft nature and women loving women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27042259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sahyoschild/pseuds/sahyoschild
Summary: Having met when kids, nothing grounds Jeongyeon and Jihyo like their friendship to one another. They escape reality often. Sometimes together and sometimes not, but when apart, they always find their way to each other.OR four times it's Jeongyeon and Jihyo against the world
Relationships: Park Jisoo | Jihyo/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	Off The Grid

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe it's taken me this long to write Jeonghyo, my favourite pairing.
> 
> Enjoy!

“I think that should do it.”

Jeongyeon sighed in relief at Mr Park’s words, hammering in the last tent peg into the ground with a newfound vigor. This time last year Mr Park had announced the same words with the same delight but they soon spent the next hour wrestling the tent back to the ground as it took off like a kite when a gust of wind hit underneath it. The wind wasn’t nearly as vicious this year, subdued and giving way to a comfortable afternoon weather before the night settled in so Jeongyeon believed they were in good standing for history not repeating itself. 

She tossed the hammer to the side by the now empty tent bag and put her hands on her thighs as she stood up.

“Thank you for the help Jeongyeon.” Mrs Park smiled at her as she rearranged bags in the boot of the car, her youngest daughter sat beside her, legs dangling off the edge of the car away from harm and waiting for the tent to be erected. Jeongyeon received a firm but thankful pat on her shoulder from Mr Park too.

“No problem, Mrs Park. I’m happy to help.” Jeongyeon childishly beamed. Being so involved made her feel part of the family. This year would mark the third year she’d been invited to go camping with the Park family so yearly, during the third week of July, she essentially was an added daughter in the Park household.

“What did I tell you about calling me that? Mija is fine.” Mrs Park scolded lightly, shaking her head with a smile. She wanted Jeongyeon to feel as comfortable as possible on their camping trips, happy to let the kids have some fun before school started again, but Jeongyeon couldn’t shake her own mother’s voice from her head about being polite and respecting your elders.

“Why don’t you go help Jihyo with collecting firewood? Then we can set things up quickly and maybe get the badminton net up too.” Mr Park offered and Jeongyeon nodded eagerly at his words. 

Having come here twice before - Jihyo had told her that they had camped in this area of the country for as long as she could remember - Jeongyeon knew exactly where the best spot for collecting firewood was and knew she’d find Jihyo there too. She left the clearing of the campsite and entered the thick woodland that surrounded it like a castle wall. Bounding down the slope, she was careful to miss fallen branches that could easily dislodge and make her boots slip, tumbling down the hill on her back and butt instead. She held onto her bucket hat in her speed, brown hair flying behind her as she ran; Jihyo had gifted the hat to her when they had picked her up the first year she joined the Park vacation and soon became the first thing she’d pack every year since. Jihyo had plonked it on her head as an incentive to get excited about camping, but Jeongyeon didn’t need much help with that when she would be spending a whole week with her best friend.

Jeongyeon found Jihyo a little further down than the firewood spot, a stone’s throw at the edge of the small river that ran beside the campsite. Logs in her right arm, bulging from underneath her armpit, Jihyo was crouched down picking through pebbles by the river bank as the water trickled by. Her large anorak practically cloaked her tiny frame. 

Using Jihyo’s distraction to her own advantage, Jeongyeon picked up a stick from the grass and hurtled it at Jihyo who soon yelped in confusion as it hit her squarely on the upper arm.

“Jeongyeon!” She cried out, dropping the pebbles on her palm in favour of throwing the stick back with the same force but luckily it hit the ground just before Jeongyeon, rebounding by her shins.

Jeongyeon spluttered out a laugh. “What are you doing down here? You’re supposed to be collecting firewood. No wonder you’re taking so long.”

“I have, idiot.” Jihyo snarked back, moving her right arm slightly to emphasise the bundle in her arm and her annoyance.

“So what are you doing? I’m pretty sure you can’t burn rocks on a fire.” Jeongyeon rooted through the pebbles herself, picking up one and throwing it into the river like a half-assed attempt to skim it. It only jumped once and Jeongyeon stood up, kicking the stones around in defeat.

“I’m trying to find a nice one to memorialise this trip, you know?” Jeongyeon could just about hear Jihyo as she had her back to her, mostly mumbling her words to the river itself.

Jeongyeon wanted to tease her again but it did make sense. Knowing the Parks’ house as well as a clued-up retailer ready to sell, she pictured the pebbles that adorned the window sill in Jihyo’s bedroom. There must have been almost ten and now she realised they were there to mark the length of time Jihyo had been camping here with her family, each year coming home with a new and unique pebble to add to her collection. The previous two years Jeongyeon had been coming with them, she had never seen Jihyo sneak pebbles into her pocket but she found it endearing the way she held onto memories like this, taking mementos from her favourite places. She could imagine smoothing your hand over the stone evoked so many more and different memories than capturing a photo would, although she was never going to tell Jihyo that.

“I don’t know, but you sure do look stupid.” Jeongyeon snorted. She shuffled closer to Jihyo, close enough to press the toe of her boot into Jihyo’s side, making her lose balance in her crouched position. It was almost too easy, she was so small it was like pushing a football. 

Gasping at the initial fear of almost falling into the river, Jihyo landed by it instead, pebbles damp from the water spray getting her shorts wet. This time Jihyo dropped the logs in her arm at Jeongyeon’s antics, hitting with a hollow clatter against the rocks as she pushed hard at Jeongyeon’s shins, making her fall onto her butt as well. A small tussel of their hands interlocked, pushing them back and forth in the theatrics of fake anger and play fighting, but they both soon surrendered. Jeongyeon leant back against her hands, breathless and giggling, and lightly kicked Jihyo’s foot for good measure. With that, she’d had the last say - she’d won. 

Sitting up, she circled her hands along the pebbles to bring them into her lap. As her eyes trailed her movements, taking in the serene scenery of the woods so alive with birds chirping and the cicadas calling back, she took a pebble into her hand, turning it around in her palm. 

“Here.” Jeongyeon offered it to Jihyo. A deep grey with lighter browns and creams marbled through the stone. It was glossy without help from the river water and Jihyo accepted it. An eyebrow quirked up. 

“Huh, who knew you had an eye for anything pretty.” 

At this, Jeongyeon rolled her eyes and blushed. She looked back at Jihyo and knew for a fact that wasn’t true. 

“Shut up or I _will_ push you in the river this time.” She bit back instead, wanting to bury her blush under the depths of pebbles that piled up on the small riverbank. A brief standoff commenced, narrowing eyes and twitching movements as a threat to pounce at any moment and push one another into the river. They’d be splashing water at each other in no time but soon followed by running to Jihyo’s mother, teeth chattering in the chill of soaked through clothes. Instead, the showdown ended in laughter. 

“Come on.” Jeongyeon gestured to get up. She held out a hand for Jihyo which she took after collecting the scattered firewood back up into her arm and buried the pebbles deep into one of the many pockets in her oversized shorts which only clung to her by a belt. 

They walked a little further up to the firewood spot so Jeongyeon could collect as much as possible into her own arms. She had been told to come down here for that reason, not to tease her best friend with violence and a face full of ice cold water. That was just an added extra she always revelled in. 

“You’ve got such short arms. I’m carrying twice the amount you are.” Jeongyeon stood, showcasing the amount of firewood she had in tight headlocks. Jihyo’s parents would be more than happy with her efforts. 

“No, I don’t.” Jihyo pouted angrily, trying to defend herself, “You’re older than me so you’re automatically bigger. I’m only twelve.”

That’s not what Jihyo had told Jeongyeon when they first met. She had accosted Jeongyeon by the soft play area in preschool, overhearing that she was four years old, and announced they were the same age and thus should be best friends. Jeongyeon couldn’t argue with that and neither could she with Jihyo’s big grin, one that had her front teeth missing for the following month. They’d been attached at the hip ever since. 

Jihyo had always used their age to bring them together, initially giving them something to bond over before they realised they had similar interests, but now she used the four months between them to draw a divide for petty argument’s sake.

“Whatever you say, Hyo.” Jeongyeon knew how teasing her about her height irritated Jihyo. That didn’t mean it made her stop, far from it but it did mean that she would threaten to punch a kid at school when they called Jihyo short. She never hit them, but Jihyo appreciated the sentiment and knew she would if things got really bad. Without a doubt in her mind, Jihyo would happily return the favour; she had one time with an easy right hook that sent blood rushing from a kid's nose and Jihyo’s parents to the principal's office to discuss her violent outburst. 

The irritation lay heavy on Jihyo’s face as they walked back up the hill towards the campsite. With enough elbow budges from Jeongyeon, one a little too hard that almost toppled Jihyo over when she lost her footing, it disappeared and they raced back to the tent in a fit of laughter, adamant that one would get there faster than the other.

The rest of the afternoon went along without a hitch. They played badminton with Jihyo’s dad and younger sister and when the evening drew near, Jihyo helped the former start the campfire as Jeongyeon helped Mrs Park with the food, handing out portions when they were ready to be a erve up. A hot bowl of soup and a blanket wrapped around them to cut through the surprisingly biting summer night.

They all took in the encompassing night sky and Jeongyeon realised that there weren’t nearly as many bright stars back in the city. But her gaze mostly rested on Jihyo, watching her, a woolly hat pulled down past her eyebrows and the bobble on top wobbling at the breeze and her every movement, as she wrestled with her marshmallow that was ablaze on the end of her skewer. Two galaxies looked up at the skewer as it shone in the darkness triumphantly like a flaming torch until Jihyo blew it out and squashed it between two chocolatey biscuits.

Finally they all settled into the tent for a night’s sleep before their long day of hiking tomorrow, but Jihyo and Jeongyeon couldn’t sleep, laughing hyperactively thanks to all the sugar they’d eaten. Their sleeping bags were pushed together as they tried to muffle themselves from Jihyo’s sleeping family and in that moment, Jeongyeon couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be. 

* * *

Jihyo had concluded a few years ago there were some things high schools shouldn’t do: schedule double periods of science class at the beginning of the day. 

No one had the brain function to do such difficult mental gymnastics so early in the morning and Jihyo was a perfect example of that as she sat at her desk, cheek slowly slipping out of the palm it was resting in and completely lost as her teacher wrote more and more chemical equations on the board. She scratched at her ankle with her other hand, tired and confused but willing herself to focus. 

Something else took her attention, her phone buzzed in her bag, feeling the vibration against her foot which rested against it. With her teacher’s back still to the class, very little students paying attention despite his loud voice, she reached down to unzip the front pocket of her bag and retrieved her phone to check the message.

[Jeongyeon]

Meet me in the car park in 10

Jihyo shook her head in disbelief. Jeongyeon was supposed to be in calculus class right now but if she walked over to the maths building and peered through the glass window in the door, she knew her seat would be empty with no preempt excuse. She quickly typed back a reply, her teacher showing no signs of turning around.

[Jihyo]

I’m in class Jeong. You know I can’t leave 

  
  


Despite the message of rejection, both Jihyo and Jeongyeon knew that she had little resolve when it came to Jeongyeon. She’d be there in ten minutes, if not earlier. She always was for Jeongyeon.

It took her all but thirty seconds - after Jeongyeon knowingly replied to Jihyo with a smiley face emoji - to start collecting her pen and exercise book off her desk and stuff them into her bag. She swung it over her shoulder, straightening her skirt and walked to the front of the class. 

“And where are you going, Miss Park?” Mr Choi asked, voice heavy with a scolding tone as he looked down at her over the top of his glasses. 

She knew the routine by now. Had concocted the perfect combination of faking an innocent act, complete with shyly averting her gaze down at the ground, and then divulging a little too much information about a feminine hygiene issue that had just reared its monthly head, one that needed her immediate attention. Any information about that topic in Mr Choi’s case, despite teaching them sex ed with a permanent sweat on his brow last month, was too much information as he nodded furiously in agreement but mostly at wanting Jihyo to stop talking, almost insisting she should leave like it was his own idea. 

Jihyo took her leave swiftly, trying to keep her smile under wraps until she was out of the classroom. It beamed as she strolled down the deserted corridor on her way to the car park. 

Luckily for both Jihyo and Jeongyeon, they were the type of students who were smart enough to do minimal studying and still pull high grades in exams. Jihyo resented the talent, it went against the point of school so regardless of it, she always tried to work hard, but sometimes she recognised she deserved a break. They weren’t quick to punish a straight As student for missing a lesson or two either. Jeongyeon on the other hand, used this gift to her advantage. She’d work hard when necessary and take sly peeks at her classmates’ papers at other times. Her teachers always told her that group work was essential to learning and their voices rang heavy in her mind like justification and encouragement when she copied the answers of the girl to her left, but in her own words of course. She wasn’t an amateur, she knew how to work the system. 

“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it yourself.” Jeongyeon had replied one day when Jihyo confronted her on the drive home about hearing how she would sleep in the back of school council. All of the credit and sparkle on her college application next year but for none of the work. It was genius but Jihyo still grumbled at Jeongyeon’s defense. 

Jeongyeon was waiting for Jihyo when she pushed open the double doors to the car park. A little dramatically as the doors creaked loudly at the force but it made Jeongyeon smile at her arrival, head leaning on her forearms which rested on the open car window. 

“Come on, let’s go.” Drumming her hands against the car door, Jeongyeon called out loudly yet excitedly to Jihyo as she walked nearer. Jeongyeon’s sunglasses sat on her head, pushing back her newly dyed purple hair, an aura of freedom in the look like she was already basking in the idea of enjoying the warm spring day outside of the stuffy classroom. 

“Jeez, don’t tell the whole school we’re skipping class.” Jihyo couldn’t help looking around, checking the coast was clear for their swift getaway. Her own bright red hair shifted at her shoulders as she checked; they had dyed each other’s hair over a pinky promise in Jeongyeon’s bathroom a few weeks ago. 

“Well, now you’ve said the magic words, ‘skipping class’, they definitely all know.” Jeongyeon rolled her eyes with a teasing tone before moving to lean back against the seat’s headrest, “Thanks Hyo.”

Climbing in and closing the door behind her, Jihyo gave Jeongyeon a mocking scrunch of her face. It was like a greeting, but not an unusual one when they’d always pull faces at each other when they passed in the school corridors on the way to different classes. 

Jeongyeon turned the ignition, the car radio loudly coming to life at whatever station they were playing when Jeongyeon had dropped them both at school less than a few hours ago. Only a few beats blared out before Jeongyeon drove off school property and onto the open road. 

“Where are we going?” Jihyo wiggled in her seat, getting comfy in the idea of rebellion. 

“Now where’s the fun in that if I tell you straight away?”

Jihyo wasn’t content with that answer, tutting in frustration, “I’m not bunking class for you to drive around aimlessly and get us both car sick.”

“Well, the door’s there if you wanna leave.” Jeongyeon offered as she pulled up at a red light. She wasn’t about to let Jihyo tumble out of the car when they were driving fifth gear down the motorway. 

With her hands still on the wheel, Jeongyeon looked over to Jihyo, waiting for the lights to change green and for Jihyo’s answer. The latter came in the form of Jihyo reaching into the glove compartment, opening the lid of a container of gum that rolled around in there and popping a piece in her mouth with such a well-versed habit like it was her own car. She had no intention of leaving. Jeongyeon met her wordless reply with her own, pulling her sunglasses off her head and pushing them up her nose just as the lights changed. She smirked and put her foot on the gas. 

Jihyo was still curious about where Jeongyeon was taking them but the mystery soon faded when she took the obvious directions into the city; Jihyo had been this way many times on the bus from the suburbs or with her dad whenever he let her practice driving in his car. However, none of the excitement left Jihyo at her discovery as Jeongyeon watched her poke her head out of the open window contently, feeling the breeze comb through her hair and the sun on her face that practically glowed and reflected off her white school polo shirt and brown eyes. 

Jeongyeon had no concrete plans for when they got to the city, more than content to run around the city purposelessly and spend time with Jihyo, not that they didn’t share every waking moment together already, in person or over the phone during their late night calls. So when Jeongyeon found a parking spot, they revelled in spontaneity and were happy to improvise: window shopping, eating at their favourite tteokbokki restaurant and taking photos of each other at sightseeing spots like tourists exploring the city for the first time together. 

When they had done more than enough dance dance revolution at an arcade than their candy-filled stomachs could manage, they piled back into the car and Jeongyeon parked up in the upper class side of town so they could partake in one of their favourite hobbies: attending open house viewings. 

Previously they had booked private viewings with retailers, having seen advertisements for lavish houses and apartments online, but when they arrived the legitimacy of their stories and economic income were challenged when they were simply two high school girls. A skateboard and a bicycle were hardly the transport of the rich. 

Open houses were much better. Jeongyeon and Jihyo could easily blend into the crowds of people, the retailer being too busy with potential buyers. They could settle into fake identities of being lost in the expensive side of town or their parents having dragged them to the open house when asked what they were doing sitting in the expensive bathtub that had gold faucets or wearing fur coats from the walk-in wardrobe. Jihyo’s favourite persona was the “our rich husbands died in a plane crash so we’re using their money to buy this six figure apartment to process and grieve together” act but it never went down very well with people despite their unwavering high grades in drama class. 

The majority of the time they’d pass through without a hitch, but this time the retailer’s suspicions mounted as he caught them eating too many of the free snacks and watched them talk animatedly about the colour changing lighting system whilst clad in school uniform but being far from any school in the city. 

“Ah, I think we’re busted.” Jihyo whispered to Jeongyeon with a sigh as they dipped their feet into the infinity pool on the terrace. Jeongyeon clocked the retailer walking towards them with too much purpose and scowl for the niceties of an open house.

“Shit, let’s get going.” She confirmed and they made a quick and laughter-filled dash the other way around the pool away from the retailer’s grasp, shoes in one hand and making wet footprints on the wood flooring as they ran. 

They moved on to the next viewing of a red brick townhouse, three floors with a basement that Jeongyeon claimed to Jihyo she’d revamp into a movie room if they bought it. Jihyo agreed only if she got the top floor with its sloping roof and views of the cityscape. They’d meet in the middle two floors and share the space and meals together. They shook on the decision.

After that, the sun began to set and Jeongyeon drove them back home. In separate households, their parents angrily waited at the kitchen table for them to arrive, only confirming their suspicions about whether the school had contacted their parents about them skipping classes. Raised voices and slammed doors followed, soon by promises of being grounded for the next few days but Jeongyeon and Jihyo knew they couldn’t be kept apart for long. They were inseparable and their parents knew that from when they used to cling to each other for dear life when preschool ended for the day. They weren’t about to start loosening their grip now.

* * *

Jihyo’s day had been moving too fast for her to catch up. She watched her life hurtle past her at such a speed it winded her and left her dizzy so before she could stomach any more she ran. Out to her car without an explanation and drove away. 

She didn’t know how long she'd been here, but she now knew the smell of the woodland around her so well like she’d woken up here and drank it in like morning coffee; knew the pattern of the woodpecker’s song and how many seconds would pass until they chirped again; knew the chill that arrived as the day started to wear thin. 

“I thought I’d find you here.”

She didn’t need to open her eyes to recognise that voice calling out to her. But it still surprised her as she was in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t told anyone where she was going, just took off in an impulse fuelled by emotions. Maybe she was dreaming, hallucinating from her squeezing headache and being so dehydrated from crying, but her initial thought was correct when she opened her eyes to see Jeongyeon walking towards her, wading through the overgrown grass to get to where she was sitting. 

“Jeong? What are you doing here?” Narrowing her eyes in confusion. They still stung from all the tears. 

“Your mum called. She said you’ve been missing all day and you weren’t answering your phone.” Jeongyeon explained with a lightness like she’d just walked five minutes to see her, not the hour of driving and hiking. The crunching of dried leaves and twigs under her feet accompanied her words. 

“Hmm, I bet she’s worried.” Jihyo mumbled, she felt guilty but had no intention of checking her phone right now. 

“Yeah, she is. She thought you were with me but I figured you’d be here.” Jeongyeon finally reached Jihyo, sitting down next to her with a sigh. Their shoulders brushed. 

_Here_ was a shed in the woods, half a mile off a walking trail. Jeongyeon and Jihyo had first found the place when they were thirteen and had exhausted all activities in their town one summer vacation so they ventured out into the woods a few miles from Jeongyeon’s childhood house. Deep in the trees and running away from an enormous bug in a fit of screams, and soon lost and disorientated, they found the shed. A vague form of civilisation. It had looked just about ready to fall apart, would concave in on itself at a simple touch, but it had surprisingly lasted the years they’d been visiting it. They had found it empty aside from two planks of wood which they proceeded to whack each other with in makeshift sword fights and then used them to sit on, balancing precariously between two fallen trees over a stream. 

When they were kids, they found themselves coming back here as much as they could. It was their own secret place, claimed ownership by two deckchairs they’d brought years ago in an effort to decorate. They’d grown rusty and weak out on the porch and this was confirmed when Jeongyeon fell through one a few years back, both girls rolling on the floor, one in pain and the other in laughter. Albeit broken, the chairs still sat there - they couldn’t bear to remove them and what they represented - so Jihyo was sitting on one of the few steps leading into the shed when Jeongyeon found her. 

After Mrs Park called her in a panic, her daughter home from university for the summer vacation gone missing, Jeongyeon initially thought about driving to the beach. Jihyo had always loved the beach and the ocean. It was one of her favourite places to relax but her family knew that too - having taken many beach trips when they were younger - so the shed was the only option for Jihyo to completely escape reality and everyone in it. Almost everyone. 

“You’re supposed to be at work, Jeong.” Jihyo practically scolded. 

Jeongyeon had a habit of arriving when she needed her the most. When Jihyo was four and felt the overwhelming anxiety of starting education, Jeongyeon had arrived out of nowhere and with a new best friend, everything became easier for Jihyo. Yet right now, when they were both twenty-one, Jihyo didn’t want Jeongyeon’s kindness to be the reason she got in trouble; this was different from the trouble they’d get in when they took the car out late at night when they were growing up. Getting fired from your new job was a lot worse than being grounded for a week. 

“Ah, that’s the beauty of having a boss that’s never in the office.” Jeongyeon smiled mischievously, completely oblivious of Jihyo’s worry or doing a good job of ignoring it, “I told them I was running errands.”

“You can’t put your life on hold like that. You shouldn’t do that for people.” A seriousness in Jihyo’s voice.

Jeongyeon looked back at her, knowing something Jihyo didn’t. Sincerity in her voice as she replied. 

“Well, you’re not _people_ are you?” 

A silence started to settle, almost two decades of friendship attached to it, but Jeongyeon did her best to not let it encompass them. This wasn’t about her, she was here to comfort Jihyo and by the looks of the tear streaks stained down her cheeks, she needed it. 

“So are you going to tell me what happened?”

“Hyunwoo broke up with me.” Jihyo’s chest was heavy as she uttered the words out loud for the first time despite how they had been circling her head for hours. 

Jeongyeon slowly nodded with a glum understanding. Only a guy could break Jihyo’s heart like this, force her to cry away her tough exterior and for that, Jeongyeon instantly wanted to break his heart in return.

“He said it wasn’t working anymore.” Jihyo corrected herself with a cruel laugh. She was almost at the stage of rage, “Well, he texted me that.”

“But you’ve been together for almost two years?”

“I guess those years meant less than a quick text to him.” Jihyo slumped forward, picking up a small bit of bark, instantly digging it into the ground to carve a thick line in the soil. She watched the dirt pile up to the sides in a hurry as she disturbed it. 

“He’s a piece of shit and a coward, Hyo. You deserve a lot better than that.” A firmness in Jeongyeon’s voice, trying to grab Jihyo’s attention away from the moat she was drawing around the pair of them. She was willing Jihyo to believe her words. 

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty.” Jihyo huffed and then threw the bark. It landed a few metres away and she dismissed it with a disgruntled look.

“Oh, that’s not hindsight.” Jeongyeon scoffed lightly. “I thought Hyunwoo was an idiot when I visited you at college at the beginning of last year. Don’t you remember how I ‘accidentally’ threw my drink all over him when I saw him dancing with another girl?”

Jihyo remembered very clearly. She was lucky she had as she downed way too much alcohol and then danced the night away with Jeongyeon in favour of arguing with her boyfriend. Once the party was over, they ran across campus back to Jihyo’s dorm, taking a detour to sit at the lake and watch the orange sun sparkle and reflect in the water as it rose. 

“I guess I’m the idiot for not seeing that.” Tears began to prick the corners of Jihyo’s eyes again. She thought she’d finished with them for the day. She looked up at the trees, trying to distract herself with the way the branches fanned out, layering patches of green across the blue sky.

“No, you’re not,” Only Jeongyeon was allowed to call her that, no one else and especially not Jihyo herself, “You wouldn’t have known he wasn’t the guy for you if you didn’t date him. There’d always be that ‘what if’.”

Jihyo looked back at her, looking less than impressed with Jeongyeon fake-philosophical words and tears still threatening to fall despite her attempts to stop them. Jeongyeon’s heart ached at the sight. Teary constellations shining beautifully despite the sadness. Jeongyeon reached out and ran the pad of her thumb across her cheek. As if prompted by the delicate action, so out of character for their usual interactions, a tear dropped, hitting Jeongyeon’s thumb, splitting around it and then soaking into the skin. 

Her eyes settling a little too long, Jihyo pulled her head away. She sniffed away her tears and wiped her nose with the side of her hand.

“I feel so stupid crying over a guy.” She looked annoyed with herself, scuffing the heel of her shoe against the wooden steps they were sat on. 

“You should.” Jeongyeon said so matter-of-factly, trying to lighten up the mood, to which Jihyo merely rolled her eyes with the smallest of smiles and continued. 

“I just heard so much about people finding their future partner in university, I was hoping to find someone too. People talk about that or marrying their high school sweethearts and I have neither. I guess I got too swept up in the idea.”

Jeongyeon heard Jihyo’s disappointment but feelings with so much more weight and longevity than the term high school sweetheart burnt deep in her chest. The term of endearment paled in comparison to how she felt. She bit the feelings back, afraid to say them out loud but mostly for the sake of concentrating on Jihyo and her injured feelings. She stretched her arm out, wrapping it around Jihyo’s shoulder and pulling her in close for a hug. 

“You’ll find them. I promise.” She whispered into Jihyo’s hair, not managing anything louder. 

“You promise?” Jihyo moved her head, looking up to Jeongyeon with a smile, “Are you gonna play matchmaker for me?”

“Shut up.” And for once Jihyo complied, settling into the hug. She rested her head against Jeongyeon’s shoulder, breathing in her best friend, finally reunited in their favourite childhood place after a few years. They hadn’t had the time to visit, being busy with university, internships and family so it was nice to be back, even if it wasn’t for the carefree reasons of catching a frog or building a rope swing. 

“I miss you.” Jihyo let her thoughts run aloud. 

Like clockwork, she received a gagging sound in response and Jeongyeon soon pushed her out of her grasp, making Jihyo fall back onto her palms in surprise.

“What?” Jihyo laughed at the exaggerated reaction.

“I’m right here you idiot.” Jeongyeon was completely shocked and surprised by her words, emphasised by lightly kicking Jihyo’s leg. Despite how much Jeongyeon wanted to avoid the vulnerability-induced sincerity, Jihyo continued.

“No, listen, I’ve missed you for four years. You went to uni and left me by myself at school.” 

“I didn’t leave yo-”

“Yes, you did.” Jihyo nodded assertively, ending all discussions, “Then I went too and we were apart and now you’re working an hour away from home whilst I finish my degree somewhere else.” 

Jihyo couldn’t wrap her head over the fact that despite it being the natural progression of life, growing up seemed so unfair, especially when it tried to drive a wedge between you and your best friend. She thought soulmates were supposed to be aided by the universe not torn apart. 

“I’m not going anywhere, Hyo. I’ll always have time for you.” Jeongyeon told the clump of grass in front of her and less so to Jihyo, avoiding her gaze. 

“Yeah?” Jihyo tilted her head, wanting reassurance. It tingled at the side of Jeongyeon’s head, making her look at Jihyo like a magnetic pull. 

“Yeah.” Jeongyeon nodded briefly, her eyebrows pulling down and her lips puckering up slightly in determination. “We’re always gonna come back together.”

Jihyo thought it was fitting she’d make promises like that here of all places.

“I’ll hold you to that.” Weight in her words like Jihyo was asking Jeongyeon to promise on the many memories they’d shared together. One missed call and the memory of Jihyo bandaging Jeongyeon’s scraped knee as she winced and whined a few feet into the woods from here would disappear. One forgotten wish of a happy birthday and they’d forget how they laughed when exchanging embarrassing stories of their first kisses as they dipped their toes into the stream nearby. Jeongyeon couldn’t bear to forget these insignificant yet important memories like that so nodded again, binding them into the pact. 

Satisfied, Jihyo relaxed, watching the woodland breathe with life around them.

“Do you want to do something to take your mind off things?” Jeongyeon offered. Jihyo’s brow furrowed slightly as she watched a bird flutter between tree branches. With Jeongyeon at her side, she had almost forgotten why she’d come here in the first place. 

“Nah, sitting here is fine.” Without looking over she reached for Jeongyeon’s hand, taking it in her own. She didn’t need to say anything else, both content to just sit with their hands connected. The way Jihyo ran her thumb back and forth over one of Jeongyeon’s knuckles said _‘being here with you is enough_ ’ louder and clearer than any words could. 

* * *

The campsite had barely changed over the years. The trees were darker in colour and inches taller as Jihyo could see slightly less of the mountains stretching in the distance that peaked above but it still felt like they had stepped into a photograph. She knew the exact one. It sat on top of the mantlepiece in her parents’ home. Her dad had balanced the camera on top of some bags and boxes, set the timer and had raced back to join his wife, his two daughters and his oldest daughter’s best friend as they all smiled widely under woolly hats. The excitement from the photo still remained in Jihyo. She felt childish and giddy but a new sensation blew in her chest harder than the woodland breeze. 

Over the years, Jeongyeon and Jihyo hadn’t changed much either. Had only grown older and impossibly closer, and a few feet taller, in Jeongyeon’s case. The true difference from the photo was them visiting without Jihyo’s family this time. It was just the two of them. 

“Why were you taking so long?” Jihyo called to Jeongyeon when she saw her appear in the distance, walking up the path towards her and their tent. 

As she walked closer, Jeongyeon noticed the inpatient tapping of Jihyo’s foot, but she hoped that the basket full of washed dishes and an armful of firewood was enough of an explanation in the face of Jihyo’s attachment issues.

“Oh, I’m sorry I have to do all the work around here.” With a dramatic sigh, Jeongyeon dropped the logs on the floor. They landed in a heap, clunking against each other. 

“Actually, you don’t.”Jihyo said smugly but Jeongyeon found that hard to believe. After they finished dinner, Jeongyeon had left Jihyo bundled up in a blanket, determined to relax as much as she could as per the guidelines of their vacation, but now Jihyo was up with a newfound enthusiasm and walked towards their tent. 

“I did this!” Jihyo announced, unzipping the tent and triumphantly throwing the door on the top of it to display the cocoon of blankets and pillows in the middle, all lit up and perfectly framed by the fairy lights that were wrapped around the inside walls of the tent. Jeongyeon placed the basket with the washed dishes on the ground and poked her head inside the tent to get a closer look.

“Oh wow,” Despite being impressed by Jihyo’s efforts to make camping that little bit more special for the pair, Jeongyeon didn’t miss a beat as she inspected how Jihyo had weaved and looped the fairy lights across the ceiling from the inside walls, “I’m surprised you could reach that high.”

Jihyo groaned. Not the response her interior design skills were expecting.

After Jihyo had tackled Jeongyeon into the tent in an attempt of demanding an apology which only confirmed to Jeongyeon how cosy and comfortable the makeshift mattress Jihyo had made was, the pair worked to start the campfire, racing against the setting sun. They ended up admiring their handy work, a glow of reds and oranges reflecting in their eyes, as they sat on a rug outside. Jihyo would have complained about being uncomfortable and searched for one of the deckchairs in the back of the car if Jeongyeon hadn’t draped herself behind her, Jihyo slotted between her legs and feeling the warmth from both Jeongyeon’s body heat and the blanket over her shoulders. 

“I found you this.” Jeongyeon said after a while, fishing into the pocket of her hoodie to retrieve something. Jihyo took it blindly, eyes still transfixed on the campfire. It was a pebble, its smooth speckled light brown exterior tinted orange from the flames. It was almost perfectly circular but dipped in the middle, creating a clear hole like some type of inflated novelty ring. Like a reflex, Jihyo tried to put it on, but only the tip of her ring finger fit. She frowned momentarily. 

“Are you proposing?” Jihyo knocked her knee against Jeongyeon’s calf and her voice was full of an equal playfulness.

“I’m not proposing.” Jihyo didn’t need to see Jeongyeon’s face to know she was feigning exhaustion. She felt it as Jeongyeon’s comforting touch left her side and heard it as she huffed out her deadpan words. It made Jihyo smile.

“Good because this ring is not nearly as nice or expensive as the one I got you.”

Jeongyeon looked down at her left hand. A small and understated diamond rested on the gold band which she caressed with her thumb. She remembered looking at it for the first time, nestled in a small box as she and Jihyo had just stopped for a break on their sunset walk along a beach in Hawaii. She thought her girlfriend wanted to take a breather to watch the ocean but at the sight of the ring it was Jeongyeon who was fighting to get her breath back. It didn’t matter that she was planning to do just the same thing to Jihyo a few days later, her heart still swelled with love at Jihyo’s proposal of a lifetime together. 

She probably shouldn’t be wearing the engagement ring whilst camping in the middle of nowhere where she could easily lose one of the most expensive gifts she’d even been given, but she couldn’t help it. It made her smile every time she looked at it. It reminded her of the woman she loved so much even though she didn’t have to look inches in front of her for the real thing.

“It’s supposed to be for sentimental reasons.” Jeongyeon explained. “To add to your collection.” 

The collection had migrated from the windowsill in Jihyo’s childhood bedroom to another. Anyone else with no sense of nostalgia would have thrown the pebbles in the trash when moving out but now they were huddled in a box on the windowsill of Jihyo and Jeongyeon’s bedroom in their shared apartment; not the red brick townhouse they had shaken on years ago but Jihyo soon realised it was the company not the house itself that made somewhere your dream house. 

“It’s cute, thank you,” Jihyo mused, running her thumb across the pebble as her other hand came up to touch Jeongyeon’s check. Against Jihyo’s blanket-warmed hand, her cheek was cold from being exposed to the elements. She twisted her head around and kissed Jeongyeon’s lips briefly, an excuse to say thank you and to warm Jeongyeon up but Jihyo soon realised she didn’t need to make excuses to kiss Jeongyeon any longer. She hadn’t for years; Jeongyeon had told her such when she kept nervously asking if she could kiss her girlfriend like she had lost all the spontaneity of when she used to climb through Jeongyeon’s bedroom window unannounced when they were younger. 

“Although the proposal leaves a little to be desired.” Jihyo said as she pulled away, patting Jeongyeon’s cheek almost patronisingly. 

Jihyo couldn’t lie, she sometimes felt like she had missed out on a romantic and heartfelt proposal like the one she’d given Jeongyeon, but she wouldn’t change for the world how Jeongyeon had slipped the engagement ring she’d been hiding for months over Jihyo’s finger so sincerely when they returned to their hotel room from the beach and then how they had rolled around on the mattress in laughter at their almost telepathic timing; at how two girls who had met at preschool were getting married.

“I’m not proposing, Jihyo. We’re already married!” Jeongyeon frantically waved her hand in front of Jihyo’s face. Her engagement ring sat secured with another ring on top. This one was a lot simpler, but still came with a lot of memories whenever she looked at it. Ones that were fresher thus made her cheeks burn redder. 

“So? People renew their vows all the time.” Jihyo shrugged.

“We just got married. We’re on our honeymoon right now!” Jeongyeon exclaimed to Jihyo and to the whole campsite that was luckily almost empty. And luckily, Jihyo couldn’t argue with that. Instead of biting back in the typical back and forth they entertained and their friends despised, Jihyo stopped and took in Jeongyeon’s words. Her wife’s words. It made her smile bashfully like she’d just been caught on the kiss-cam at a sports game or had just made eye contact with her crush across the library, her heart burning in her chest and burying her face firmly against the pages of history homework on her desk when they looked away; the latter had happened a lot when she was younger, across the library, across the hallway, across the car seats as Jeongyeon caught her eye as she drove them home from school. Her heart skipped again now and Jihyo settled back into Jeongyeon’s arms, nestling in closer and feeling Jeongyeon’s heart beat against her. 

“Are you happy?” 

Jihyo more or less felt the words as Jeongyeon mumbled them against her neck. 

“Huh?” She replied. Turning her head to get a good look at Jeongyeon, her brow furrowed in concern like she was checking whether she’d hit her head. No obvious bumps or concussion, she only saw signs of worry and concern written across her face, but Jihyo couldn’t understand why. In this moment, she didn’t know how she could be any happier, married to her best friend with no doubts that they would ever waiver or part ways. 

“Are you happy that this is our honeymoon?” Jeongyeon corrected herself, mind far away no matter how her hands clung to Jihyo’s sides underneath the blanket. “You didn’t want to go to Hawaii again like I originally promised?”

“I will admit I was a little confused when you didn’t take the exit to the airport.” 

Watching the last sign to the airport pass by them, Jihyo had used incessant questions like a bored child to try to pry the destination of their honeymoon out of Jeongyeon who remained tight lipped no matter how large Jihyo’s brown eyes grew as she pleaded.

“I wanted it to be a surprise and not let anyone know where we were going so it was extra special.”

“Have you kidnapped me? Is this where I die?” Eyes big once again, Jihyo faked fear this time but made no attempts to leave the comfort of being in Jeongyeon’s embrace. 

“I’ve had almost twenty-five years to kill you, you don’t think I would have done that already?” Jeongyeon mused but then caught herself before she carried on too far. 

_And_ _I’ve spent almost all of those years head over heels in love with you, Jihyo._

It was the type of romantic words you’d divulge to your wife with such reckless abandon, but only if she wasn’t Jihyo. Instead Jeongyeon knew Jihyo would never stop teasing her for taking twenty years to pluck up the courage to tell the girl who’d felt the exact same; she’d just taken a little longer to catch up.

“Hmm, maybe.” Jihyo smiled. She couldn’t doubt that twenty-five years of friendship, despite their three years of dating and now one day of marriage, was a big milestone and she reminded herself to celebrate it with something silver and a disgustingly cheesy gesture that Jeongyeon would hate. 

“You know you could take me to a sewage plant for our honeymoon and I’d still happily follow you.” Jihyo smiled and she swore she heard Jeongyeon’s heart beat louder. 

“Oh, I love it when you talk dirty.” Voice dropping several octaves louder, Jeongyeon began to nip at Jihyo’s neck. The combination would normally make Jihyo’s knees weak, but this time she pulled an outraged face at her wife’s greasiness, disgusted from deep in her core like the time they’d watched a creature in a horror film shed their skin in a mess of flesh and blood. She desperately tried to remove herself from Jeongyeon’s grasp and smiling lips creeping up her neck. 

A few more yelps in an attempt to get free and a “you’re so gross” from Jihyo and she soon settled down once Jeongyeon’s touches became innocent again, running across her sides and arms. Jeongyeon swayed them slightly as they watched the fire start to die, no movements made to untangle themselves from each other and save the flames despite the logs that lay a few meters away. 

“What if we just stayed here forever?” Jeongyeon’s hands had made their way to Jihyo’s hands and stopped, intertwining them together. She planned to stay there for a while. 

“What do you mean?” Jihyo smiled, entertaining what she thought was a joke. 

“Run away from reality and completely disappear. Just me and you.” Jeongyeon’s voice was firm with no triviality in it like she was asking Jihyo whether she wanted to go eurorailing in the summer.  
  


“What about our jobs?” Jihyo asked lightly and received a small grunt of displeasure. 

“I don’t even like mine that much plus you don’t need a job if you live out in the wilderness. You don’t need anything, you just live off the land.”

She pictured them creating a life for themselves in the woods. Nothing like making houses made from twigs and leaves, she had little survival skills despite the many lessons they received from Mr Park on camping trips as kids, but buying a camper van and jumping from place to place on the map with no responsibilities. It sounded like paradise to Jeongyeon. 

She couldn’t help her urge to continue this time. 

“I don’t need anything apart from you.” 

It was whispered so quietly into Jihyo’s shoulder like she hadn’t just declared her love for Jihyo in front of all their loved ones less than twenty-fours before. A love that spewed from her puffed out chest long gone and replaced with something more tender and shy.

“That’s stupid.” Jihyo scoffed and Jeongyeon groaned in pain like Jihyo had physically knocked her declaration back into her face with a wooden bat. 

“I’m trying to be romantic, Hyo.”

“What about food or water? You _need_ them to survive.” Jihyo used logic in the face of her wife’s reckless romanticism. Someone had to keep a level head or they’d die in the woods, skeletons found years later by hikers. 

Jeongyeon stopped for a second, pouting her lips thoughtfully. “If I was on my deathbed and water was the only thing that would keep me alive, I’d still only crave you.”

Jihyo stared at Jeongyeon, her sickeningly sweet smile and sing-songing tone, but met it with a scowl. She reached up to place her palm on Jeongyeon’s forehead. Her tone was almost clinical. 

“Did you eat some poisonous berries when you went to get firewood? What’s gotten into you?”

“Stop.” Jeongyeon dragged out in a low groan, pulling away from Jihyo’s hand and looking up at the night sky in frustration, all accompanied by Jihyo’s soft chuckles. Eyes slowly dropping down from one constellation to look at two as she pouted back at Jihyo. “This is a rare opportunity. You better cherish me being affectionate to you because it won’t happen again any time soon.” 

Jihyo found that hard to believe. Jeongyeon was a sap through and through. She knew it from all the times throughout the years Jeongyeon had looked at her with doe eyes yearning to say “I love you” across the kitchen table or cramped single bed; just how Jihyo’s heart wanted to. It still made Jihyo laugh at how clueless and out of tune with each other they had been for two best friends who knew everything about each other aside from who their hearts belonged to. 

She shifted against Jeongyeon’s back, turning around completely so she could sit on Jeongyeon’s lap. At the fuss, the blanket around Jeongyeon’s shoulders had fallen to the ground and Jeongyeon was about to complain how Jihyo had made her cold before Jihyo kissed her slowly. Warmth surged from her lips, blanket long forgotten as Jeongyeon reached forwards for more of that heat, searching with her lips and hands and meeting affection swelling from Jihyo’s own lips and the dips of her lower back to hold onto. 

Jihyo pulled her head back, taking in how her hands had subconsciously weaved their way to link at the back of Jeongyeon’s neck and how Jeongyeon, with her features so soft and blissful, took a few seconds to reopen her eyes, completely lost in the comfort and heat they had created together, a fire that now burned harder than the one beside them. 

Like melting candle wax, Jihyo used the warmth to let her words drip from her mouth in the most passionate way. “I love you too, Jeong. A run-away-into-the-woods-where-no-one-can-find-us kind of I love you.”

Those three words echoed back to her faster than the wind thrumming in between the trees. 

“I love you.”

Eventually they made their way into the tent as the cold evening air started to become unbearable for any more stargazing. Luckily enough as Jihyo lied on top of Jeongyeon, taking in each other in their secluded spot in the middle of nowhere and passing soft kisses, the fairy lights looked like stars haloing Jihyo’s head. She’d blurt it out loud and let Jihyo pull away with a sour expression and then punch her in the shoulder for ruining the moment, but Jeongyeon was convinced Jihyo shined even brighter than them that she eclipsed all the other stars, be them real or artificial. 

Jeongyeon only wanted Jihyo in the night’s sky, moon, stars and fairy lights be damned. She didn’t want the sun either, Jeongyeon only _needed_ Jihyo. She was her guiding light and Jeongyeon would follow her endlessly no matter the time of day. 

She felt the emotion reciprocated, love pouring from Jihyo’s lips as they met again and her hands cradling Jeongyeon’s head like she wouldn’t let go; couldn’t let go. Two stars blinking in the sky, feeling no gravitational pull but to each other.


End file.
